Sunday, April 6, 2008

Measuring Up

I ran in a local 10k road race yesterday. I was planning to do an interval workout on the track but once I knew there was a local race I decided to use it as a tempo training run and then I'll do the intervals sometime later in the week.

The 10k tempo run ended up feeling really good. My only plan was to run each mile faster than the previous. The first two miles were essentially a warmup at 6:30 pace. The third mile I did in about 6:00; the fourth mile in about 5:45; and each of the last 2 miles in 5:30.

I ran in this same event a year ago, and I thought I was in pretty good shape then, but I found out yesterday that I'm in much better shape this year. Last year I really struggled in running a 37:30. Like yesterday that run was meant to be a tempo run but I really pushed myself beyond a comfortable tempo pace. If I recall correctly, I was actually quite sore and worn out after that run last year. Yesterday though was totally the opposite. I ran a 36:45, felt much more comfortable doing so, and even with 30 miles of biking yesterday as well it didn't really take anything out of me. I just got in from a 25 mile run this morning and felt quite fresh.

anon, i only work about 25-30 hours a week (as a cook), but more than that it's all about priorities. if your training is your first or second priority on a daily basis you will find time for it. and not owning a television seems to help a lot too.